Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-550b

(b) Any contract for financial assistance entered into under this section shall be contingent upon available funding and a successful application submitted to the office and which has been informed by the appropriate local or regional governance partner's needs assessment and community plan, as described in section 10-550c .

(c) The office, in operating and administering Early Start CT, may allocate an amount up to ten per cent of the total financial assistance under the contract with each local or regional governance partner established pursuant to section 10-550c , but not more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars, for coordination, program evaluation and administration. Such amount shall be increased by an amount equal to local funding provided for early childhood education coordination, program evaluation and administration, not to exceed fifty thousand dollars. Each local or regional governance partner shall designate a staff person to be responsible for such coordination, program evaluation and administration and to act as a liaison between the town or towns and the commissioner.

(d) Any early care and education program receiving financial assistance under Early Start CT shall not discriminate based on ancestry, race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, learning, physical, intellectual or mental disability or any other protected class described in chapter 814c.

(e) No financial assistance received as part of Early Start CT under this section shall be used to supplant federal, state or local funding received for early care and education on behalf of children in an early care and education program.

(f) (1) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, the office may pay, in an individual contract entered into under this section, a per-child rate or an amount per classroom that has been determined by the commissioner. (A) The per-child rate paid by the office under this section for each eligible child enrolled in a program under Early Start CT who is three or four years of age and each child who is five years of age and not eligible to enroll in school, pursuant to section 10-15c , shall be at least ten thousand five hundred dollars for each such child. The amount per classroom for such children described in this subparagraph shall be at an equivalent rate per child multiplied by the total capacity of the classroom as determined by the commissioner on a case by case basis and established in the contract. (B) The per-child rate paid by the office under this section for each eligible child enrolled in a program under Early Start CT who is under the age of three and enrolled in an infant or toddler classroom and not in a preschool classroom shall be at least thirteen thousand five hundred dollars for each such child. The amount per classroom for such children described in this subparagraph shall be at an equivalent rate per child multiplied by the total capacity of the classroom as determined by the commissioner on a case by case basis and established in the contract.

(2) For purposes of implementing the provisions of this subsection, the commissioner shall develop policies and procedures governing classroom sizes, payments and required enrollment rates. The commissioner shall use data-driven, outcomes-based contract provisions to facilitate and incentivize full enrollment.

(g) The office may use up to three per cent of funds allocated to the early care and education appropriation to evaluate program effectiveness and impact on participating children, families and programs, including, but not limited to, child outcomes, later school performance, quality standards, professional development and preparation, and parent engagement impact.
nd incentivize full enrollment.

(g) The office may use up to three per cent of funds allocated to the early care and education appropriation to evaluate program effectiveness and impact on participating children, families and programs, including, but not limited to, child outcomes, later school performance, quality standards, professional development and preparation, and parent engagement impact.

(h) Any Early Start CT facility that has been approved to operate an early care or education program financed through the Connecticut Health and Education Facilities Authority and has received a commitment for debt service from the Department of Social Services, pursuant to section 17b-749i , on or before June 30, 2014, and on or after July 1, 2014, from the office shall be exempt from the requirement for issuance of requests for proposals.